THE THING IN THE WOODS BY HARPER WILLIAMS Robert McBride & Company New York 1924 Copyright, 1924, by ROBERT M. McBRIDE & COMPANY Printed in the United States of America Published :: 1924 CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Lennox Says Good-Bye II. The Light in the Woods III. A Mysterious Call IV. Dutchman's Hill V. The Dead Cyclist VI. A Boycotted Household VII. What Happened in the Laboratory VIII. I Go Fishing IX. Problems X. The Chicken-Huckster's Hoe XI. Jakey Walks XII. Mr. Crowfoot XIII. An Afternoon Drive XIV. The Cry in the Night XV. Suspicions XVI. I Catch a Burglar XVII. A Midnight Chase XVIII. Lennox's Story XIX. The Mill Dam XX. What We Found in the Saw-Mill XXI. The Thing in the Woods XXII. The Silver Bullet THE THING IN THE WOODS THE THING IN THE WOODS I LENNOX SAYS GOOD-BYE I had just made my rounds of the wards for the last time, that June evening, fifteen years ago, when Murchison, my chief, came to me with the open letter in his hand. "Here's the very chance to suit you, Haverill," he said. "Read that! A chap named Lennox, in Pennsylvania, wants a substitute for three months. Small country practice--no work of any account, I imagine--and a good holiday thrown in. Just reached me tonight, by chance." I had finished my term as _interne_, and was leaving the hospital the next day. The whole summer was before me, for after three years of heavy work I owed myself one good vacation before settling to the task of building up a private practice, and I was glad enough of the chance to turn it to advantage. Every dollar I had saved I had put aside for the future struggle, and Murchison knew it. How to take a three months' vacation on next to nothing was no easy problem, and only such an opportunity as this, for which I had been searching vainly for weeks past, could solve it. I glanced at the signature below the letter. "George Lennox.... I used to know a George Lennox at college." "Probably the same man. He asks me to recommend some one reliable. Funny idea. He can't have much opinion of his country colleagues, or he'd simply hand the patients over. There can't be so many of them, in a place like that. Rather fussy, I gather! Well, it might suit you. I thought I'd ask you before I spoke to anyone else."